A Shot In The Dark
by zigzag
Summary: (SandsOC) Percieved as dark and dangerous, he's lived his life in shadow... estranged, mysterious, self-obsessed- at least he'd like to think so.
1. introduction

**Disclaimer:** Unfortunately for me, I do not own the amazing agent Sheldon Jeffrey Sands. Neither do I own the setting or anything else that you recognise from the movie. I do, however, own my wonderful OC, whose name will remain a mystery for the moment.

---------------------------------------------------------

Black trainers pounded softly on the dusty tarmac. The door of the café swung open with a soft jingling sound and he slipped inside, sliding into a seat in the corner with only a slight hand gesture to alert the attention of a nearby waiter.

"Puerco pibil and tequila with lime."

"Si, senõr."

Raising a cigarette to his lips, he pulled a lighter out of his jean pocket and lit it with a flick of his wrist. Drawing a deep breath, he then exhaled a series of small smoke rings into the stuffy air, watching them float upwards before fading into nothingness. The fingers of his right hand slipped down his neck, undoing the second and third buttons on his black silk shirt, his nails catching on the silver chain that hung there.

"Your tequila, senõr."

The drink was placed before him and Sands acknowledged the waiter with a simple nod, no need for thanks, he was intending on paying him after all. Stubbing out the cigarette, he took a sip of the strong liquid enjoying the way it burnt his throat slightly as he swallowed. He scanned the room, analysing a dozen people in a single second, weighing up any possible threats and searching for a hint of anything unusual. Nothing extraordinary. He hated these sorts of people, Sands was certain he could recite the entire life-history of any one of them with a single glance. A head suddenly turned and his gaze was drawn to a young woman who was now facing in his direction, his eyes locking with hers. Chocolate brown met forest green for a split-second before a slight blush spread across her pale cheeks and she blinked, averting her eyes downwards.

Sands barely noticed the waiter place his order on the table; his gaze was still fixed on the woman, she had turned away again and he noticed she was wearing a dark green, spaghetti-strapped summer dress. Her raven black hair fell over her shoulders in loose ringlets. He watched as she sipped the last of her drink before placing the glass back on the table. Sands pulled out one of his many credit cards, flicking the plastic to imply that he was ready to pay. The waiter approached and handed Sands the bill and a pen, giving him a strange look as he eyed the untouched meal on the table. Sands quickly signed the bill, allowing the waiter to check the signature before slipping the card back in his pocket, his eyes still on the woman who was now getting to her feet. He mirrored her actions and they reached the door at the same time. Sands stepped aside to let her pass and she met his eyes again, a small smile drifting across her face. Sands wanted to smile back, at least he thought he did, but he wasn't sure that he remembered how. It had been so long since he had smiled properly. Her beautiful eyes seemed to scan his face quickly before she nodded in thanks, slipped through the door and was gone. Sands stood stock-still for a moment before he too left the café, his eyes examining the dusty street for any sign of the mysterious woman. She was no where in sight. Sands sighed and pulled his shades down over his eyes, cursing softly.


	2. cofee and 'conversation'

A/N: Thanks for the great response to the first chapter! - Choco Donut, E. S. Young, CaptainRaven and of course Emma, Heva and Holly- Thanks soo much for the great reviews!

The first chapter was rather short but it was intended as just a brief introduction the storyline. I'll try and make the chapters longer now that we are into the story but I don't have a lot of time to write and I prefer to update short chapters regularly than long chapters with months between each update.

This is my first attempt at an OUATIM story so I'm quite new to this. I do read a lot of these stories though so I have some idea of what I'm doing...I hope. Agent S.J Sands is one of my favorite characters of all time. I love him because there's so much about him that's left unsaid and unexplained in the movie. He has a sort of phobia of weakness and vulnerability and feels the need to act stronger than he feels. With Sands, things are rarely as they appear. It was 'circetigana' on livejournal that said Sands 'handles the pain because he doesn't even know there are other options'- I think that's perfect. He's one of those people who is born unlucky and has stopped even trying to escape. I'm writing this because I think he deserves to fall in love!

-----------------------------------------------------------

The early morning sun seeped through the silver blinds casting stripes of golden light across Sands' sleeping face. Dark eyes fluttered open and he groaned in annoyance, rolling over and burying his head in his pillow. A few minutes past and Sands, realising he wasn't going to be able to fall asleep again now he was awake, sat up in bed muttering darkly. Fifteen minutes, a strong coffee and two cigarettes later, Sands was just about awake enough to consider his plans for the day. He needed to do a bit of shopping- something he hated with a passion- and then he had a hospital appointment at 2o'clock. He was due for a check-up x-ray of his right collar-bone which he had literally splintered just under a year ago in a car-chase with a Mexican drug cartel. _What a fucking roll-up that was _Sands mused to himself _and now, guess what? I'm back in this God-damned country. You'd think they'd have learned by now that I don't work well in the heat._ Getting to his feet, he showered, dressed in his usual black and grabbed his keys as he left his apartment.

Sands walked speedily down one of the many aisles inside the local Mexican supermarket. He passed straight by the food section- having been raised in an extremely wealthy family he had no idea how to work a cooker and had either eaten out or ordered in his entire independent life. He was, however, fresh out of both coffee and tequila and so he was forced to spend a small amount of time inside this stuffy building earning many strange looks from the other shoppers who were obviously wondering why on earth he was wearing a long sleeved black shirt and jeans in the summer in Mexico.

Finding the rows of coffee jars, Sands reached out for one trying to take it from the shelf, the jar wouldn't move. Frowning, Sands tugged harder and stumbled backwards slightly, hearing a small yelp from the opposite side of the shelf. He looked down at the jar in his hand and then at the gap in the rows of coffee where an arm had appeared, poking through from the other side. Sands' frown deepened and he brushed off his shirt, crouching down a little and coming face to face with a pair of forest-green eyes. Sands recognised the eyes straight away- the girl from the café. Quickly assuring himself that his expression was unreadable, he grabbed a second jar of coffee and passed it through the gap. The mysterious woman accepted the jar with a grateful smile.

"Thanks." She had a cheery voice and an American accent although Sands, being far more perceptive than the average person, could detect just a hint of Spanish.

_Great she had to talk. Why do they always have to talk? Well, I'm going to look like an idiot if I don't reply..._

"Sure" he shrugged.

"Have I met you somewhere before? You seem familiar."

_Sands scanned 'mystery woman's expression carefully. She remembers me he concluded she just doesn't want you to know it... that or she's trying to start a conversation. Play along..._

"Café." He replied simply.

"Oh yeh!" _She'd make quite a decent actress _"My back's hurting, could we continue this conversation somewhere other than this supermarket? Are you free tonight?" _Ooh look at that, she's asking me out- well she's easy on the eyes, that's for sure..._

"I suppose." Sands replied casually.

"Don't talk much do you?" Mystery girl raised an eyebrow in an amused fashion.

"Only when necessary, can't say I'm one for casual conversation."

"Maybe I can change that." She winked at him.

_Well she's certainly confident_ Sands thought.

"What do you reckon?" She continued "Same café as last week, eight o'clock?"

"OK" Sands nodded before standing up again, turning away from the coffee shelf and heading off towards the tequila.


End file.
